Winemaking may incorporate enzymes as a tool to alter properties of certain wines.

Enzymes are used today in some commercial applications of winemaking to make modifications to the final product either in its appearance, aroma, taste, or even the timing of bringing the product to fruition. While enzymes may be looked at as just another tool in the winemaker’s bag, care must be taken to use these products so as not to damage the wine being treated, but also not to take the originality out of commercial wines.

Enzymes are a natural and fundamental element of the [easyazon_link identifier=”1441951903″ locale=”US” tag=”billhildebran-20″]winemaking[/easyazon_link] process. Nowadays, they are also a commercial product found in many wineries, another utility in a winemaker’s toolkit. They have the potential to make more extracted and more aromatic wines and to accelerate the winemaking process. They also have the potential to make worse wines if not used properly. But there is also a more pressing concern: is the use of commercial enzymes contributing to homogeneity in the wine world?                                                             Photo courtesy of Sanjay Acharya

Today, winemakers have more means by which to truly “make” wine than ever before. Examples include traditional winemaking techniques such as sur lie (lees contact), bâtonnage (stirring of the lees), maceration (skin contact), and barrel aging. Different permutations and combinations of these four variables alone can produce distinct wines. Indeed, it would be naïve to think that wine is not – no matter how traditionalist, non-interventionist, or ‘natural’ – to some degree made.

Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions. For winemaking, this means that enzymes help things move along faster than they otherwise would in nature. And enzymes are not entirely foreign to the winemaking process. Enzymes occur naturally in grapes and yeast, and will naturally influence the winemaking process.

Commercial enzymes are much like cultured yeast strains in that they are derived from nature and act like the natural enzymes in grapes and yeast. The majority of commercial enzymes fall into two categories: those that aid in extraction and those that increase volatile aromatics. The first are enzymes known as pectinases. Used predominantly on red varieties, pectinase functions by breaking down the cell walls of red grape skins, thereby extracting anthocyanins (the color components in red grapes) and tannin. This then helps to improve the overall color intensity as well as the color stability of a wine, by allowing the anthocyanins to bind with the tannin, as well as its structure. An additional benefit of pectinase treatment is that particles settle more quickly. The action of pectinase on negatively charged pectin molecules exposes positively charged grape solids, leading to attraction and increased flocculation.

 Wine Making – Storing and Fermenting Wine

Care must be taken when using these enzymes to alter or enhance wine. It takes someone with some real knowledge and skill to not only use the proper enzyme but also knowing when to introduce it into the production process and even matching it up with the proper grape variety.  

However, enzymes are not without their drawbacks. As mentioned, the use of enzymes on the wrong grape variety may have undesirable consequences, such as producing ‘off’ flavours or masking varietal typicity. The failure to add the enzyme at the appropriate time could also have negative consequences on a wine. The timing of the addition (and the amount of enzyme to add) is directed by the manufacturer, and the majority of enzymes are added just after the grapes are crushed or to the juice. However, some enzymes may be added post-fermentation. Enzymes, as proteins, may also affect the protein stability of a wine, possibly contributing to protein haze. As such, successful enzyme treatment relies to some degree on the skill of a winemaker.

To learn more about how enzymes are used in winemaking, you can see the entire original article by clicking here:  http://palatepress.com/2012/11/wine/making-wine-the-use-of-enzymes-in-modern-winemaking/